Fun Facts About the Name Hakob
- 20 babies named Hakob: U.S. records list 20 babies given the name Hakob from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Hakob Mean?
Hakob is the Armenian form of the biblical name Jacob, which comes from Hebrew Yaʿaqov. The Hebrew name is tied to ʿaqev, "heel," and to the verb ʿaqav, "to follow" or "to supplant." Genesis 25:26 explains the name through the story of Jacob being born grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau, so the literal sense is "he grasps the heel," and the customary English rendering is "supplanter."
Scholars do not fully agree on the derivation. Some treat the Genesis explanation as a folk etymology and connect Yaʿaqov instead to a shortened theophoric name of the West Semitic type yaʿaqob-el, "may El protect"; others accept the link to "heel." The Armenian form shows an initial h- added before the vowel-initial Greek Iakōbos (Ἰάκωβος), giving Hakob (Հակոբ). The same spelling is pronounced Hagop in Western Armenian.
Hakob Name History & Origins
The name entered Armenian with the country's conversion to Christianity and the fifth-century translation of the Bible into Armenian, traditionally credited to Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Partev. Because the Armenian New Testament uses Hakob for both the patriarch Jacob and the apostle James, Armenian does not keep separate forms for the two names the way Latin and English do with Jacob and James.
Several early church figures bear the name. Hakob of Nisibis, a fourth-century bishop who took part in the Council of Nicaea, is remembered in Armenian tradition as a kinsman of Gregory the Illuminator. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has its cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint James, dedicated to the apostle James. In 1512 Hakob Meghapart ("Hakob the Sinful") printed the first Armenian book, the Urbatagirk, in Venice.
Armenian surnames such as Hakobyan and Hagopian derive from the name. Western Armenian speech uses Hagop for the same name because that dialect pronounces the letter կ as g and the final բ as p.
How Popular is the Name Hakob?
Hakob has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2012. Its best rank was #8,512 in 2000.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | #9,163 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #12,933 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #8,512 | 7 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with H
Short Boy Names That Start with H
How the Name Hakob Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You attract success and money. You are a lover of nature and do not need others for your happiness. You are self sufficient. You strive for material success and power and have business sense. You possess strong organizational abilities, can be a good manager, and executive by nature. You are capable of great achievement in business and finance. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Hakob's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hakob's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.